


Crossing Paths

by TeetanJaeger



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 19:46:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6390775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeetanJaeger/pseuds/TeetanJaeger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short story about teenager Levi and a random chance to make the life of another girl in the Underground a little better. Inspired by an ask on Tumblr regarding what Levi would have been like as a teenager.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crossing Paths

     Levi flopped over on the straw mattress that laid on the floor which served as his bed in the attic room of the house he’d broken in to find a place to stay. He’d been fairly certain no one currently lived in the sorry shambles of a run down building which was supposed to serve as a home for someone at some point in time, but he was never positive. A decent house to live in (and by decent, of course, it meant that it had four walls and a mostly functioning roof) was prime real estate in the Underground City at this point and it would not have been the first time the 16 year old had been chased out of an attic he erroneously thought would be safe to squat in for a time.

     He’d been in this particular attic for a week now and so far it didn’t look like anyone else had lived there. He started thinking that he might go investigate the rest of small structure soon to see if he might be able to just take up residence as a permanent home (which would be a nice change since he hadn’t had one really in at least 5 or 6 years). The dark haired boy was about to get up to do just that when a high pitch shriek sounded from the street below. He couldn’t help but peek his head out the cut out window to see what was going on and was met with the sight of a group of three men backing a young woman into an alleyway. Several other people on the street just passed by, rushing along to pretend like they hadn’t seen anything. Levi scowled, grabbed his knife, and immediately bolted out of the attic.

* * *

 

     “Now, our boss has been plenty nice and given you plenty of time, missy,” The leader of the three gang members spoke as they continued to back the thin, young girl with wavy, though messy and in need to grooming, strawberry blonde hair into the dead end that awaited her. “It's time to pay up what you owe him.”

     “B-b-but, there’s no way I can pay that much!” The girl protested, abjectly terrified at the knowledge that she had nowhere to go and no options before than the violence that radiated off the three looming men in front of her. “That’s not even the amount I borrowed!”

     “Well look now, the boss has to charge interest to make sure he makes good on his investment. It's not something a bitch like you would be smart enough to understand, so just cough up the money,” The leader stated, the other two snickering behind him.

     “I...I don’t have that much!” She cried out, praying to the Gods she knew probably didn’t care that someone from the street might help her if she yelled loud enough.

     “Well then, looks like we’re going to have to teach you a lesson in economics, bitch,” The leader cracked his knuckles menacingly as the girl felt the wall of the dead end hit her back. Tears streamed down her cheek in terror and she started to slide down the wall to try and protect herself in a fetal position when a young male voice she didn’t recognize sounded from the end of the alley.

     “Hey big, fat, and ugly, why don’t you guys pick on someone your own size?”

     The three thugs paused in their advance on the girl and turned towards the voice which belonged to a dark haired boy clad in a slightly over-sized white shirt and a pair of dark trousers.

     “Who the hell are you talking to, brat?” The leader sneered.

     “Whoa! You’re even uglier from the front, shit. Please tell me the doctor slapped your mother when she popped you out for being so damn ugly.”

     “What the fuck do you want, kid?!” The leader shouted at him. “We’re fucking busy!”

     “Yeah, I want you three shit stains to leave the girl alone,” Levi shot back at the leader, voice taking a more deadly serious tone. The thugs laughed, a harsh sound that lacked any actual mirth, and turned back towards their prey dismissing the teen behind them. It was only too late that they realized their mistake as Levi closed the distance between them with alarming speed, leaping on the back of the thug closest to him and slit his throat with ease. As the thug fell to the ground, gasping for breath in the last moments of his life, Levi lept away, crouched low to the ground to anticipate retaliation.

     “Ugh, fuck, you guys smell like shit too. Don’t you ever bathe?” Levi commented, wrinkling his nose. The second minion thug, enraged at the murder of his associate, lunged at Levi to exact revenge. The bigger, more lumbering man proved no match for the lither, quicker teenager who quickly dodged his attack, flipped the knife in his hand to a reverse grip, and dispatched the second lackey just as quickly and deftly as the first. Without hesitation, he then moved and kicked the leader’s legs out from under him, kicking him hard in the gut as he hit the ground before flipping him on his back and holding the knife to his throat.

     “What do you want the girl for?” He asked coldly.

     “None of your fucking business. Wait till my boss finds out-” The leader was cut off by a swift punch to the face.

     “Now, I didn’t ask for your back talk. And seriously you have the worst breath ever so talk less,” Levi made a disgusted face. “What do you want the girl for?”

     “She’s just a whore that owes my boss money,” The leader sputtered out.

     “Well why don’t you tell your boss that she doesn’t owe him any more… And you know what? Tell him I’m coming for him next,” Levi released the man and kicked him again for good measure. “Now get the fuck out of here.”

     The man scrambled up and scampered out of the alley, leaving his dignity far behind him. Levi made a mental note to find out who the guy’s boss was later. He turned to the girl who was still cowering. It occurred to him that she looked about the same age as he.

     “So, you gonna be ok?” The girl looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes, not quite sure what to make of the dark haired boy in front of her who just murdered two of her attackers and chased off the third. She cautiously nodded.

     “You got a name?”

     “Adeline,” The girl squeaked out.

     “You really owe those guys money?” Levi pulled a cloth out of his pocket and started cleaning his hands and the blade, the drying blood already starting to take on a sticky quality that made his skin crawl.

     “Um,” She cleared her throat, slowly uncoiling herself from the fetal position she sat in as they talked. “One of my clients beat me up and stole all my money, so I had to borrow some to pay my pimp his cut. Ended up being a worse idea than just letting him beat me…”

     Levi frowned as her voice trailed off. He sighed and looked around to see if the leader was coming back with any back up. So far they looked safe.

     “Hey, so, look. I, uh, I have a place across the street if you need somewhere to crash for the night. Nothing weird, I don’t expect anything from you. It's just somewhere to sleep and I’ll make sure no one messes with you,” Levi shifted slightly where he stood, not looking directly at her. After she didn’t respond for a moment, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye to see if she was actually listening to him or not. Adeline was looking up at him with the widest, most thankful and hopeful eyes he’d ever seen. She lept up and attacked him with a hug.

     “Thank you!”

     “Uh,” Levi awkwardly patted her back. “Sure. Come on.”

     “What’s your name?”

     “Levi.”


End file.
